In the ninth episode of Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, Asuka and Kurumi are reunited with some familiar faces.

Asuka is not pleased after learning she will be meeting with General Tabira

We begin with Asuka and Kurumi joining Iizuka at the JGSDF Naha Garrison, where they learn that they will be playing the role of security for the upcoming 6th Naha. Preparations for that will involve meeting a certain someone that Asuka is not very fond of. Before that, though, there are a couple of familiar faces to be reunited with.

Tamara and Mia

It’s been a few years, but Asuka and Kurumi are reunited with two other members of the Magical Five: Tamara and Mia. Upon meeting them, Asuka can’t hold back her tears. She is just so happy to see them again.

Asuka can’t hold back the tears

It’s a fairly happy reunion for the four Magical Girls, though little do they know that an enemy is preparing an attack right as they speak. Regardless, Tamara tells Asuka that she is looking forward to working with Asuka again.

Sayako and Nozomi

Elsewhere, Sayako and Nozomi are enjoying the peace, with Nozomi even suggesting that they start living there. It it is around that point that a rather odd couple ask them to take a photo: a girl with a prosthetic leg and a huge person who is hiding their face with a hood. It is Chisato and Giess, with the latter using a perception filter to avoid any suspicion about his appearance.

Tamara really loves cute things

Night sets in, and we see the Magical Girls preparing to turn in for the night. Asuka is texting Nozomi, Kurumi is admiring a photo of Asuka in her swimsuit, Mia is tending to her gun whilst Tamara is doing what you can see in the screenshot above.

General Tabira

The following day, the four gathered Magical Girls have a meeting with General Tabira. It quickly becomes clear why Asuka isn’t Tabira’s biggest fan: Tabira really loves Magical Girls. She is quite physical when it comes to displaying that affection, much to Asuka’s dismay.
After greeting the Magical Girls, Tabira reveals that she has a gift for the Magical Girls: new uniforms.

Slingshot Bathing Suit Maid Outfits

Tabira’s gifts are not well received. Fortunately, that was only a joke. What she actually has is a magical item that can enhance magic power – she wants one of the Magical Girls to use it.

Asuka wants to go and fight the Halloween class Disas, as she knows that Nozomi and Sayako are in danger. However, her orders are to remain at the base, as she is best at close combat. Fortunately, Mia is willing to go and deal with the enemy.

Phoenix takes out the enemy’s aerial forces

With Mia and Tamara moving out to meet the enemy, Tabira is given the order to return to the Spirit World. She protests, but doesn’t get her way. Not that it matters, as the enemy has disabled the bridge back to the Spirit World.

Tabira and Asuka

The topology bridge will take 48 hours to restore. Since the bridge has been shut down, they believe that their target is not the 6th Naha, but General Tabira herself. As such, Asuka and Kurumi will have to protect her for at least two days.
The episode ends with Giess and Chisato preparing to enter the battle.

This episode adapted the remaining part of chapter 15, as well as chapters 16 and 17 of the manga. One big change here is that Nozomi and Sayako are still in Okinawa. In the manga, they were on the way home whilst the Magical Girls were meeting with Tabira. In fact, any scenes with Nozomi and Sayako in this episode were not in the manga to begin with, so they never met Giess and Chisato either.
Everything else was more or less the same as the manga as far as I can tell.
At the rate things are going, we’ll be passing the official English translation of the manga soon enough. This episode brought us to the end of volume 4, and I can see all of volume 5 being covered in the next couple of episodes.

General Tabira has been a character that I have been looking forward to seeing for a little while, and she was just as good as I was hoping she would be.
Asuka’s reunion with Mia and Tamara was also quite the touching scene. It also seems that Tamara may have a thing for Asuka, who she considers to be very cute when crying.

This episode also saw the start of the Okinawa Arc’s major battle. It was mostly the enemy we saw in action, though we did get a brief glimpse of Phoenix doing her thing. With Giess and Chisato joining the battle, things are going to get even more action-packed in the next episode.

So all in all, a great episode. We got a reunion with four of the Magical Five, we met General Tabira, and the enemy started their attack. I am looking forward to what is coming up in the next few episodes.